Family Tree Surprise
Jenny
jennyg@compuserve.com
Tue Sep  7 13:01:35 1999
One of my cousins has been doing extensive research in our family tree, and managed to trace my maternal grandmother's side back to 1589.  At a recent family gathering he casually mentioned that a couple of our distant relatives were executed as witches.  Naturally, I was intrigued!  *p*Much to my shock, I found out that I had four ancestors accused in the Salem Witchcraft Trials!*p*Three of them were the Topsfield sisters -- Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyse, and Mary Easty.  Sarah was the only one to survive.  Rebecca was a devout Christian, a friend to Quakers, and a pillar of the community.  Her execution shocked many people, and helped spread opposition to the trials.*p*Mary Easty argued brilliantly in her own defense, pointing out that since Satan could appear as an angel of light, what was to stop him from taking her shape?  She was executed nonetheless.  But Nathan Hale, one of the Salem judges, changed his mind about the trials after a visit from her ghost.  (A story I'll post in a bit.  I've always adored it, and I was rather stunned to find myself related to Mary.)*p*Susannah North/Martin wasn't directly related to the Topsfield sisters, but she's also in my family tree.  She was a fiery woman, with some property, who was accused of witchcraft once before Salem.  Her second trial, at Salem, ended in her death.  Cotton Mather wrote about her in _Wonders of the Invisible World_, and said she was one of the most scurrilous creatures in the world.*p*Jenny*br*